Jointers and Planers, Oh my!

[Matt]

Here goes, my first post...

I'm in the market for a jointer and a planer. I've searched the wreck archives and googled a bunch as well. I've narrowed down the field but still have a need for opinions.

First, the jointer. It seems that the creme-de-la-creme in the 6" field is the Powermatic

54A. Long, stout, cast iron beds and quality construction throughout. Three knife cutter head and TEFC motor. However, the price tag is quite high at $799. Next down the ladder is the Jet JJ-6CSX. Shorter cast iron beds, three knife cutter head... Price $599. Further down the ladder still is the Borg Special, Ridgid JP0610. Beds approx the same length as the Jet, three knife cutter, price $350. I've come from a background where the adage was, when in doubt look at the weight. Heavy makes better. The Powermatic wins hands down. However the Ridgid and the Jet are within 20% on weight. There also are some complicating factors to this that I will get to in a minute... Obviously the Powermatic is the first choice (if money and time was not a concern, but it is). Is the benefit of the Powermatic worth saving for a few extra months to get the Powermatic? For the lower two choices, would I be crazy to consider the Borg Special? Or is the Jet that much better quality?

Second the planer. I have read many favorable reviews about the DeWalt 735. Three knife cutter, robust build, quality results, dust collection ready. Priced at $499. However, right now on Amazon, they are touting $100 off your next purchase of Powermatic, Jet or Powermax when you purchase a qualified product. If I go with one of the top two jointer choices, I could apply the discount to the planer. Jet makes a 13 inch planer, JWD-13DX and retails for $419. However, it has a 2 knife cutter head, not dust collection ready. Is the three knife cutterhead on the DeWalt worth ignoring this discount?

Comments, concerns, flames?

Thanks Matt Beginning workdorker extrodinaire

[Al Reid]

I now have both a planer and a jointer. My fist purchase was the planer and a little over a year later, a jointer.

I went with the DW735 13" planer because I felt it was well made, beefy and had fairly good reviews. I have planed quite a lot of walnut and oak. I like the disposable blades. When they first get dull you can flip them over. I am now on the first side of my second set. I have never had a problem with it, however, others have complained about sprocket problems. Mine was a fairly early model, having received it late September, 2003. Very little snipe, except when the rollers need cleaned or the knives got dull.

I got a jointer just last Christmas. I went with the Grizzly G1182Z 6 x 47 and ordered it on sale prior to the price increases. It has gotten some use and so far I am satisfied. I guess only time will tell. I went with price on this since I really didn't want to shell out a lot of money, since I have access to a DJ-30 (I also have access to a Delta 24" planer).

I'm not sure if this helps you at all.

Later,

-- Al Reid

[Matt]

Thanks for the reply. I have been leaning towards th DeWalt, but most of the info I dug up was a little dated. SWMBO and I are looking at new-to-us houses and some need updating in the kitchen. SWMBO wants hardwood cabinets and I said that I could make them, cheaper / better than the Borg special orders (plus end up with a couple more tools for the shop).

I'll have to check the Grizzly out. I hadn't even considered them to this point.

Matt

[Al Reid]

I feel comfortable with Grizzly. I got the G0555 14" bandsaw w/riser kit back in July 2003. I was initially a bit disappointed until I got some feedback from the group on tuning up the saw and I bought a good quality blade. From that point on I have been very happy with it. I home my luck is as good with the jointer.

[Steve]

I've had a DeWalt DW735 for almost a year. Excellent machine. I've planed a lots of quilted, birdseye, and fiddleback maple, walnut, alder, various rosewoods, some figured koa, and some mahogany with excellent results. I run it at the lower feed rate. That lower feed rate (192 cuts per inch) is the primary reason I chose this model, since I deal with a lot of figured wood, and I've had zero problems with tear-out. I'm still on the first set of edges on the first set of blades, but it's about time to turn 'em around & use the second edge.

--Steve

Matt wrote:

[Kiwanda]

I went through this same process recently, but perhaps on a tighter budget. I ended up buying the Delta 37-275X X5 jointer and the 22-580 planer. Both of these were shipped for free, and after rebates the total cost for the pair was under $700 from Amazon. I'd looked at the Rigid pair, but I really don't like Home Depot and believe the Delta products are likely superior. They were also cheaper, since no sales tax was incurred.

Now, I must also admit that these are both still boxed in the garage. I hope to assembe and test this weekend. One thing I found interesting is that the Amazon prices change almost daily...I had these in my shopping cart for a few weeks (with some others) and one evening the price on the planer dropped $20 for a few hours, then went back up. If one was planing to buy from Amazon it might be worth setting up the Twocows price monitor (or a similar service) to notify you when prices fall below a set point.

-Kiwanda

[Electric Stu]

I have the DW735 as well and am very satisfied with it. For the money, it is a great machine. I was able to turn in some credit card points for a $500 Home Depot gift card, which I used to buy the planer (and which helped me clinch my decision to buy it). From another gift card I had from Xmas, I bought the mobile base, the extension wings, and the dust chute mechanism, all of which are great accessories. The mobile base is solid, and helps if you have limited space. While I had minimal snipe initially (with some practice), the extension wings (properly positioned on a very slight angle towards the main table) have essentially eliminated snipe, which is fairly amazing considering there is no planer head lock. I don't have a bona fide dust collecting system yet, so I bought the dust chute, which fits well around a 44 gallon Rubbermaid Brute waste can quite well; I don't have any loose dust from or clogging of the machine. The blades are not sharpenable, but are reversible, and are indexed so there is no alignment necessary. One oft heard complaint is the short life (and high replacement cost) of the blades, but I've run several hundred (square) feet of oak, maple, wenge, and bubinga and I'm still on the first side (though ready to flip them). I also had occasion to speak with Dewalt technical support to ask a few questions about the unit and they were extremely knowledable and helpful (with very short wait times to answer the phone). There was an issue with bad gear sprockets over a year ago, which have since been resolved.

I am in the process of selecting a jointer, so I can't help you from personal experience. I was going to buy the PM 54A, but decided to save up a bit longer for an 8" jointer. I'm thinking about the DJ-20, but I want to hear some feedback about the new PM PJ882 8" parallelogram way jointer (a bit cheaper on Amazon.com). Grizzly has an 8" spiral cutting head jointer G0543, which has had some recent positive reviews.

Hope this helps, Stu

In article , Steve wrote:

[sam]

[snip]

I've no pertinent info on jointers for you

I recently bought the Dewalt 735 and the optional dust collection attachment. The planer has a blower built into the dust port, so you can connect the attachment hose directly on and shoot the shavings into a barrel. I believe this feature alone is worth the extra price over the Delta. I've run about 100 bf of pine and about 20 bf of rough maple including some 12" glued maple stock and have been very happy with the results (about six 50 gallon barrels of shavings in all). The only problem I've seen is that the feed rollers require frequent cleaning.

I might not have purchased the optional collection kit ($50) if I had realized that the basic planer comes with an attachment to which you can connect a 4" hose. Then again, I saved quite a few hours rigging something up that probably wouldn't have worked as well.

Good luck,

sam of vt

[David]

I've never regretted getting the 54A. It's well made, has flat tables, and a nearly flat fence (close enough to cause me no problems), and I like the longish table length.

Dave

Matt wrote:

[kkfitzge]

I've had the Ridgid jointer for a few years, and it's been a great machine. Fit and finish are excellent, and it consistently produces accurate results.

I don't think it's "down the ladder" from Jet at all. Most of these 6" Taiwanese jointers come from the same manufacturer, and there isn't really much difference between brands. The Jet has a welded, fully enclosed base, while the Ridgid has a bolt-together stand. That's the weight difference, and the Ridgeid takes a bit longer to assemble, but that doesn't justify a 70% higher price to me.

As for the Powermatic, if you're seriously thinking about that kind of money, look at 8" models.

[David]

That unit does NOT have a true spiral cutterhead.

Electric Stu wrote: Grizzly has an 8" spiral cutting

[Ba r r y]

Having owned a Ridgid, and used the Jet, I agree.

The PM-54 is a nice 6" machine, as is the discontinued DJ-15. Both are worth the premium over the clones.

Barry

[TEF]

Funny Stu should mention the incline of the extension wings on the DW735. I recently attended "lecture" on planers at a WWshow in VA and the speaker suggested the inclination of the extension wings (towards the cutter heads) on all brands of planers. Oddly enough, it has eliminated any snipe I had with the DW735. Once corrected, the Dewalt unit seems to perform almost perfectly. Since getting the planer, I have always connected it via a 4" hose to a 2hp DC unit, so I've never had problems with chips clinging to the feed rollers, but I suppose this could be a problem if one depends on the planers internal fan to evacuate the chips.

As for the Jet 6" jointer, I bought a used one off of ebay a year ago for $325 and it too works well. I was required to clean some surface rust off the unpainted areas and get a second set of knives, but the units does accurate face planing and jointing as well as any other machine I used. I suspect that a jointer with a longer (and wider bed) would be even better, but everyone has his or her budgetary limits.

In short, the DW735 and Jet jointer work well for me.

[Bob G]

I have used a 6 in Rockwell Jointer for almost 40 years now....Honestly I have only wished a few times for an 8 in Jointer But have wished for longer beds many times... That said I can honestly say that I have never been defeated because of the width nor the bed length on my Trusty Rockwell...

Yea I buy the powermatic today if I were in the market for a new jointer (I'm not ) .. REASON..>> the bed length .. Just have not run into the need for an 8 inch jointer..

Jointers in general are darn simple machines...even the Tiawan Factories should be able make flat tables and fences..(key word is should)... I would check out shopfox, yorkcraft, and especially Grizley

I am not a fan of Ridgid machines...period..!!!! BUT I have stated more then a few times that I do like their Planer almost purchased it over the De Walt but chicken out...

My Planer is a run of the mill De Walt single speed unit...Only 5-6 years old but has been well used during that time... I am completely satisfied with it....Nothing really outstanding about it except it works ... I generally take light passes and normally do not run into any snipe that upsets me...I do see some snipe if I am not careful. I am completely satisfied with it...

Good luck...

Bob Griffiths

[the_tool_man]

Hi Matt:

I picked up the Rigid 12" planer a couple of years ago. HD discounted it heavily to make room for the newer one that comes with the dust chute and stand included. I only paid $211 for it, so that pretty much made the decision for me. I use it all the time, and I have been very happy with it.

Regards, John.

[Electric Stu]

I thought the G0543 unit was a true spiral cutterhead. It has indexed, individual 4-sided carbide blade inserts arranged in four spirally-oriented rows. If this is not a "true" spiral machine, I would appreciate if you could tell me what qualifies as one.

Thanks, Stu

[David]

Stu, I just got done reading about that unit; the author noted (correctly) that all you have is a series of straight blades, arranged in a spiral around the cutter head. The result is NOT going to be identical to the cuts from a true spiral cutterhead.....

I hope you appreciate this; I spent the last 10 minutes searching though my latest wood mags, before I found the right issue all by it's lonesome in the bedroom. It's Wood, April/May. See page 104.

Dave

Electric Stu wrote:

[Electric Stu]

Thanks, Dave. I just received the issue yesterday and hadn't gotten a chance to read it yet.

Stu

[Larry Jaques]

On Sat, 19 Mar 2005 13:08:09 -0500, the inscrutable Electric Stu spake:

Maybe he wants the cutters to look like the inside of a pencil sharpener. ;)

[David]

No problemo, Stu.

Dave

Electric Stu wrote: